Will Zamora haunt his old club?
Another desperately disappointing week for Chelsea, with calamitous defending in Italy meaning their Champions League hopes hang by a thread with the Blues 9/4 to make the quarter-finals with Napoli 1/3 to finish the job at Stamford Bridge.
Speculation mounts daily over the future of manager Andre Villas-Boas and we make former Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez 3/1 favourite to be the next permanent boss and it is fair to say that sources close to Red Rafa have not exactly poured cold water on the link in recent days.
Fabio Capello is next best at 5/1 with a return for Mourinho at 6s and the dark horse Marcelo Bielsa the Athletico Bilbao coach at 10/1.
Back to the bread and butter of the Premier League this weekend with the big game at Loftus Road between Rangers and Fulham. We can’t split the sides at 7/4 with the draw at 23/10.
It is a massive game for R’s manager Mark Hughes and striker Bobby Zamora, who is unlikely to get a particularly warm reception from the Fulham fans. But the (former?) England striker is 11/2 favourite to net the opener and 13/8 to score at any time during the 90 minutes.
Joey Barton has been in excellent Twitter form again this week and he is due a big game. Barton is 9/2 to score at any time in a game the Hoops really need to get something from.
We still think Rangers will escape the drop (5/4) but I think their season can be put in context by the fact they were short-priced favourites at the start of the campaign to finish ahead of the other newly promoted clubs (Swansea & Norwich) in their mini-league having finished top of the Championship last term. They are currently 16/1 behind Norwich 4/9 and Swansea 7/4.
Chelsea are 2/7 at home to Bolton (11/1) with the draw at 5/1 and you would need to be a brave punter to back the hosts at those odds with the Keystone Cops in central defence.
Seriously though, some of Chelsea’s attacking play was excellent in Italy but they were quite dreadful against Birmingham City last weekend and they need an emphatic victory and a clean sheet.
It looks as if it’s Didier Drogba’s turn to lead the line and he and England’s Daniel Sturridge are 19/4 favourites to grab the opener with Juan Mata at 6s.
BetVictor offer 21/20 for Chelsea to win to nil and that is just what they need to do.
It’s a great weekend of sport with new-look England meeting Wales in a vital Six Nations game at Twickenham on Saturday and we bet Evens Wales (-3) on the handicap and Evens England in receipt of a three point start.
That looks too close to call but I think one England v Wales encounter this weekend that will go to the English in Sunday’s Carling Cup Final, when Liverpool (2/5) really should have far too much for Cardiff.
Luis Suarez is 5/1 to score the opener and I think the Reds will win well. They beat Championship opposition 6-1 last weekend and the same scoreline is 125/1. It could be a long afternoon for the Bluebirds.
For all your sporting odds this weekend check out betvictor.com or follow me on twitter @VictorChandler
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